Spare tires are typically stowed in sport utility vehicles outside of the vehicle, on the rear lift gate of the vehicle, to avoid encumbering otherwise useful space within the vehicle. To permit operation of the rear lift gate, a sport utility vehicle's spare tire ordinarily is supported by a carrier that can be pivoted away from the lift gate to thereby allow access to the interior of the vehicle through the lift gate opening.
While effective, such spare tire stowage systems can be inconvenient, in that the user is required to pivot the carrier each time access is desired through the lift gate opening. Nevertheless, it remains desirable to avoid stowage of spare tires in the useful cargo space of the vehicle.
Accordingly, the present invention recognizes that a spare tire for a sport utility vehicle might be stowable beneath the vehicle's chassis. As further recognized herein, however, it would be desirable to provide an alternate stowage configuration for the spare tire. Specifically, it would be desirable to provide an alternate configuration in which to stow the tire, i.e., in a configuration other than beneath the chassis, when the vehicle is to be driven off-road. Thereby, adequate ground clearance is assured. As still further recognized herein, the desired spare tire stowage configuration should be easy to establish and to change to the alternate configuration.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus for stowing a spare tire on a sport utility vehicle. Another object of the present invention is to provide a method and apparatus for stowing a spare tire on a sport utility vehicle which permits the tire to be selectively stowed in more than one stowage configuration. Still another object of the present invention is to provide a method and apparatus for stowing a spare tire on a sport utility vehicle which is easy to use and cost-effective.